


Working With a Lab Partner

by MySecretAccount



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, One Shot Collection, Other, Science Boyfriends, Science Experiments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-31 14:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21447898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MySecretAccount/pseuds/MySecretAccount
Summary: A series of one shots of Entrapta and Hordak framed in the context of a series of recordings about learning to work with a lab partner. Set around season 2 and season 3.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one was prompted from a post on tumblr "HAIR!"  
There will be many more one shots to come :)

“Working with a lab partner log #17, when you need to carry a significant number of items it can be beneficial to request their assistance.” Entrapta spoke into her recorder while she sat on the edge of a workbench with Hordak leaning over her and gentling wrapping her wrist.

She had been carrying about eight different pieces of tech, scrap, and wiring in both her hair and her hands when she had tripped on a cable running to the vitrines. Rather than breaking her fall with her largely preoccupied hair, she threw out her arm however, she didn't let go off the important piece of tech she was holding and instead landed with all her weight on her wrist.  
Her wrist didn’t like that.  
The pain was pretty bad, she’d say about a 7.6 on a scale from 1-10. She screamed.  
Curiously Hordak was by her side in about 3.7 seconds despite being halfway across the sanctum.  
“Oh, I appear to have hurt my wrist.” Tears were beginning to well up and obscure her vision, she blinked them away to reveal Hordak wearing an expression she hadn’t seen before; similar to concern, but it was almost…gentler? “I’ll be fine.” She blurted out, hoping to dispel any worry that he might have for her.  
She tried to use her hair to stand up but he simply picked her up and carried her over to the bench.  
“No, I'm going to look at it properly. Wait here.” He turned, almost reluctantly, before disappearing around a corner.  
She slid of the bench, with her injured wrist cradled close to her chest, and began picking up the dropped tech, wires, and scrap.  
“Ughkk!” She whirled around to see Hordak walking over to her, some kind of box in his hands. “Entrapta! You are HURT, please just sit still for five minutes.”  
For the second time her carried her over to the bench and gently reached for her sore arm.  
“Tell me if anything hurts.” He poked and prodded and twister her wrist for three minutes before he decided it was only a sprain and began to wrap it. After two minutes of that Entrapta found that her five minutes of restraint were up and she sent a tendril of hair for her recorder. Hordak eyed it warily, but judged that it wouldn't hurt her wrist and went back to wrapping. 

“Perhaps in future you can allow Emily, or Imp, or myself to assist you so that you don’t—“  
“Drop anything important I know.” Entrapta knew she was being short with him, but she found herself rather tired.  
“”No!” Hordak cried, catching her off guard. “So that you don’t hurt yourself.”  
“Oh,” she looked down, “that too I suppose.”  
“You need to be more careful.” Hordak was being particularly insistent.  
“I know, my work is necessary for the portal.” “No, I—“  
“Are you done? I’m pretty tired.”  
“Yes,” Hordak sighed and turned away, “I’m done.” 

Despite what the Horde’s soldiers said when they thought she couldn’t hear them, Entrapta needed sleep and she cared about her personal hygiene. However, she was so tired that she decided she could shower in the morning instead.  
She also realised that it was too difficult to move through the vents with an injured wrist, that’s how she found herself getting lost in the fright zone, the twisting hallways were so at odds with the perfect grid of the vents.  
She turned to slump against a wall but whirled around at the sound of a screech.  
“Imp! This is brilliant, would you be able to show me how to get back to my room?”  
“AAAAAHHHHH”  
“I’m going to take that as a yes.” He ran off down the hallway and Entrapta trailed behind him. “You know Imp, Hordak was acting really weird today, I don’t like jumping to conclusions, I AM a woman of science, but I’d almost say he cared whether I was okay.”  
“AAAAAAHHH AHHHA”  
“Yes, I KNOW I care about him, he's the first lab partner I've ever had, of course I’d care if he was hurt, but I always just assumed I was a tool for building the portal, my recent observations seem to challenge that assumption. Maybe I’m just tired, and hurt and not seeing things properly.”  
“AAAHAHAHA”  
“Oh, we’re here, thanks heaps Imp!” Entrapta opened the door to her room and practically collapsed onto her bed, she didn’t even bother to plait her hair, or change into pyjamas. She’d worked really hard on upgrading the portal, then she’d gotten hurt, then she’d got lost in the fright zone. She fell asleep in moments. 

“..I KNOW I care about him, he's the first lab partner I've ever had, of course I’d care if he was hurt, but I always just assumed I was a tool for building the portal…” Entrapta’s voice played throughout Hordak’s sanctum as Imp flew in circles above his head.  
“Is that what she really thinks? Does she really think so low of herself?” Hordak put down the mess of wires he’d been detangling and stormed off into the inner part of his sanctum. 

Entrapta woke up groggily, she was tangled in something, but that didn't make any sense, she only slept with a comforter and no sheets, she wore shorts to bed so her legs wouldn't get caught and she plaited her hair before— wait she hadn't plaited her hair, and she wasn’t even in pyjamas. She remembered now, she had been so tired after yesterday that she’d fallen straight to sleep. She untangled herself from her hair and set her jaw as she entered the bathroom to face the matted mess that was her hair.  
Despite spending 20 minutes in the shower, and using the last of her conditioner she just couldn't get the knots out of her hair while she only had the use of one hand. Maybe she did need some help. 

Hordak only needed about 4 hours of sleep a night, 2 if he was pushing himself. That's why he was working when the door the sanctum opened and Entrapta wandered in.  
“Entrapta, I hope you’re feeling better after yest—“  
“I need some help.” Entrapta’s voice was so soft Hordak wouldn't have heard it if he didn't have enhanced hearing.  
“Of course, what can I assist you with…” His voice trailed off as he turned around to face her. She was wearing her coveralls and boots, and her wrist was still wrapped but her hair was a wet, dripping mess.  
“I can’t untangle it with only one hand.” It was clear from her refusal to make eye contact, and the softness of her voice, and the redness of her cheeks that she was embarrassed.  
“Yes, okay, uhhh,” Hordak really waned to be supportive, but he had no idea how to handle the situation. Luckily, Entrapta walked over to one of the benches and sat down facing away from Hordak.  
He walked over to her and tried to gently run his claws through it, he found it to be rather “slippery?”  
“I put conditioner in so that it would be easier to untangle.”  
Hordak tried to be gentle, but every now and then he’d catch on a particularly bad knot and she would flinch.  
“Usually I sleep with it in plaits so that this doesn’t happen, but I was really tired last night and I just fell asleep.”  
Hordak pulled gently at the knots in her hair, “you really shouldn't work yourself to exhaustion like that, the portal is not more important than your health.” He tried to broach the subject that Imp had brought up last night, but subtlety was not his strong suit.  
“Oh no, I wasn’t tired after working on the portal, I was exhausted cause i got lost on the way to my room, the hallways are much more complicated than the vents.” Entrapta tilted her head back to look at Hordak. “But it’s okay, Imp found me and showed me where to go!”  
“This is unacceptable—“  
“I’m sorry, I’ll try harder next time.”  
“No, you shouldn’t have to, what’s unacceptable is that your rooms are so far away that you get lost and tired, you simply can not work in these conditions. I’m having my forces move you closer to the sanctum, especially so you don’t get so tired all the time.” Hordak had become huffy, but she couldn't figure out why. “That is, if it’s okay with you.”  
“Yes, thank you.” Entrapta leaned her head forward again and closed her eyes, she was still kind if tired from yesterday, and the feeling of Hordak pulling at her hair to untangle it was making her feel even sleepier. 

It had taken a full 30 minutes, but Entrapta’s hair was thoroughly detangled.  
“All done,” Hordak announced. But she didn't reply. “Entrapta?” Hordak moved around to the other side of the bench where he found that she had fallen asleep. She really had to stop overworking herself, it was starting to worry him.  
Well, he couldn’t just leave her here, she’d get in the way, and he wasn’t going to take all his time to carry her back to her rooms. His would do for now.


	2. Log #19 Searching For Your Companions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Imp and Emily have gone missing and neither of our precious lab partners is handling it very well.

Hordak knew that he could be a hot head. He knew that he could angry, and frustrated, even anxious and sad. Hordak also knew that he was beginning to “freak out” as Entrapta put it. He hadn’t seen Imp at ALL today. Usually he would wake up to a screeching Imp at 4am. He would demand chin scratches and a ration bar, before he flew off to wander about the Sanctum and the Fright Zone. Logically, Imp was probably just wandering around and messing with soldiers, but at the moment logic didn't seem to matter to Hordak.   
He continued to “freak out” as he paced anxiously around the sanctum, looking into nooks and crannies. His traitorous mind conjured images of Imp cold, alone, and scared. He was pulled from his thoughts by a bloodcurdling scream.   
“Hordak!” It was Entrapta.   
“Hordak, help!” He was off within a moment, running through the sanctum towards her voice.   
He found her kneeling at the door to his sanctum, Frantically rummaging underneath a desk. Her hair was spiked up in that way that it was only when she was particularly excited or on edge.   
“Entrapta,” he breathed. “What is wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” At his insistent questions she emerged from the desk however, the fear on hear face did nothing to calm his worries.   
“It’s Emily!” She yelled before checking herself and lowering the volume. “I can’t find her, I haven’t seen her at ALL today. I know she’s probably just wandered too far, but what if she got lost, or caught or—“ She was edging on hysterical and the parallels to himself were not lost on him.   
“Shhhh,” he spoke gently and moved to hold her shoulders. “Imp’s gone missing too.” Despite his typical perfect control, he couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice.   
“Oh, okay, when did you last see him?” Entrapta’s voice had calmed a little now that she had something to focus on.   
“Last night which means—“  
“They’re probably together.” Both Hordak and Entrapta chorused.   
“Where have you looked for Emily?” Hordak felt a mixture of relief and fear. Relieved he had something to go on, but still afraid for Imp and Emily lost in a place as harsh as the Fright Zone.   
“Oh, I started in my room and then I looked around sector 123-alpha, she likes it there cause the cadets teach her tricks, and then I tried sector 643-delta, because sometimes she’ll go looking for scrap to bring me, and then I came here.” Entrapta’s voice was still high pitched but it had lost the cracking that often happened when she was scared or frustrated, that was good.   
“I’ve scoured the entire Sanctum for Imp, he won’t usually leave here without instructions unless he’s headed to the kitchen to try and sneak a treat from the cooks.” Hordak was moving to grab his cloak. Entrapta seemed to think he was taking to long and shot her hair out to help him, though it was rather more like hurrying. He raised an eyebrow at her.   
She merely turned and strode towards the door. “Well that’s where we need to look first!”   
“You do not wish to use the vents? They are faster and you understand their grid.” Hordak’s longer legs had no trouble catching up to her, and as he did she rose up onto her hair so that she could keep his pace.   
“I’d rather walk with you,” she smiled sheepishly. “So that we can be better co ordinated in our search.” 

Early in his conquest, when the Fright Zone was barely an eighth of what it was now, Hordak had learned the effect of a warm meal on Etherian soldiers. It boosted morale immeasurably and had on two separate occasions prevented a Coop. So it became his system that ration bars would be consumed as breakfast and lunch yet dinner would always be served as a hot meal. Young cadets would clean the plates as a part of conditioning and a way to keep them busy and out of trouble and he had a series of cooks who would work hard to prepare food for the Fright Zone. 

The cooks were used to seeing Entrapta, she enjoyed warm, fresh, miniature brownies and Lord Hordak had long since told them that she could have whatever she liked. What they weren’t used to was seeing her so stressed or seeing Lord Hordak stride in with her.   
“Lord Hordak, Entrapta, what can we do for you today? We’re the cupcakes to your liking miss? Here,” he produced a tray of colourful concoctions, “these are fresh out of the oven.” The head cook spoke kindly to Entrapta and Hordak made a note to give him some extra RnR as a reward for the effort he put into her snacks.   
“Oh, yes they were delicious Thank you!” The anxiety momentarily dissolved as Entrapta gushed over the tiny cupcakes and delicately placed one into her mouth.   
“Actually we’re here because we need to know if you’ve seen Emily—”  
“—you’ve seen Imp.” Both Hordak and Entrapta spoke at once, and they looked at each other in surprise.   
“Ahh,” the cook spoke drawing their attention back to him, “I’m sorry, we started today at about 4:30 and we haven’t seen either of them come in. Now that you mention it that is rather strange, usually Imp will come by for some Hotcakes at about 5.”   
“Thank you for your time.” Hordak turned on his heel and strode towards the door.   
“And for the cupcakes!” Entrapta blurted before reaching out to grab one more.  
“He’s too skinny, try and get him to eat a real meal tonight, he can’t just live off of ration bars.”   
“I promise.” The quick, whispered exchange between the cook and Entrapta would have gone unnoticed had Hordak not had sensitive ears. As Entrapta approached his side he leaned down to whisper to her, “I am NOT too skinny, and the ration bars are nutrient balanced.”  
She just rose up on her hair and whispered right back, “you ARE too skinny, and I think a warm meal would do you a world of good.” 

The head cook watched the two of them whisper together, with a smirk plastered across his face. Rumours ran rampant in the Fright Zone, and it had spread like wildfire when Lord Hordak had ordered Entrapta’s rooms be moved closer to the Sanctum. He always tried to dispel any rumours that could be particularly hurtful, and he kept it between himself, and the kitchen staff that they would prepare sweet small treats for the lady as that would only add fuel to the fire. However, seeing how gentle Lord Hordak was with her, and how protective he had been the cook wondered about the truth of those rumours. 

Hordak and Entrapta spent the rest of the day moving from sector to sector, department to department in an endless search for Imp and Emily. 

“Where else could they be?” Hordak ran a hand through his hair, pulling lightly. It was something Entrapta had only seen him do when he was truly stressed or exceptionally frustrated. They had spent the whole day walking through the Fright Zone talking to people and looking for their companions.  
“Sometimes Emily will go to the transport mechanic’s to help with some of the heavy lifting. Maybe they went there?” She lifted a tendril of her hair to place on his shoulder. He glanced around nervously but once he determined they were alone he relaxed and sighed, “okay, well then we will go there now.” They were both upset and tired, the portal was not progressing as well as they would have liked. 

“Have you seen Imp?!” Yelled Entrapta at the same time as Hordak demanded-   
“Have you seen Emily?!”   
“Entrapta it’s so good to see— Lord Hordak!” The head mechanic dropped her rag in shock, Entrapta sent out a tendril of hair to pass it to her. “Uhm, I’m sorry, I haven’t seen either of them since yesterday.” She was nervously wringing her rag between her hands and focusing on anything other than Hordak.   
“Oh, that’s okay! We’ll keep looking.” Entrapta turned to leave but whirled around again, “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I have some spare parts that I’m going to get Emily to drop off once I find her, they should be helpful with fixing the glitch in model 2478.” Hordak was taken aback by how well Entrapta knew each of the people in the Fright Zone.   
“Oooo, that would be really helpful actually, thank you ma’am, also I have those ‘specially insulated cables you asked for, will 20 ft be enough?” The mechanic turned and almost ran over to one the boxes against the wall. Pulling out a reel of cables and returning to the pair.   
“It might be a bit heavy to carry, I can send one of the bots by later if you’d like?”   
“No that’s okay, I’ll be fine. This is going to be perfect thank you!” Entrapta grabbed the cable in her hands and then strode out the door with Hordak trailing close behind. 

“Give me the cables.” Hordak reached out to grab the reel from Entrapta as the two of them began the long trek back to their Sanctum.   
“I’m strong enough to carry them!” Entrapta pulled the reel away from him.  
“It is not a question of whether you are strong enough, you most certainly are. It is merely that I am stronger and it is a large distance across the Fright Zone, therefore it makes more sense for me to carry them.” Hordak smiled smugly and reached for the reel again.   
“Fine.” Entrapta sighed and handed over the reel. The smirk that he had given her had almost made her want to snatch the reel and run off down the hallways, but she had no idea why. She decided to hand it over because logically he was correct, and she was also tired from having to walk around all day. 

They walked in comfortable silence back to the sanctum, neither of them wanting to broach the subject of Imp and Emily.   
As Hordak opened the door both he and Entrapta gasped, rushing forward in shock. What had greeted them was Imp and Emily, batting at each other playfully in the ante chamber.   
“Where have you been?” They chorused, before looking at each other and laughing loudly as weariness, and relief with an edge of hysteria washed over them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank gods mum and dad were able to find their children!


	3. Log #22 An all nighter, almost.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Hordak and Entrapta are in desperate need of sleep, but how will the lab partners fare when they're both grumpy from exhaustion.

t was 3 in the morning and Entrapta was sneaking into Hordak’s Sanctum. Realistically it was also her sanctum, he had made that pretty clear to her rather early on, so she should be able to just waltz in and get to work. But she always felt kind of weird about it. So that’s how she found herself crawling through a vent to get to the Sanctum at 3:13 in the morning. 

She had to get into the lab because starting at 3:30 she would need to adjust the portal settings every 30 minutes for 24 hours. She knew that she should probably get Hordak to help her, that way she could get some sleep, but she also knew that Hordak wasn’t getting enough sleep and that he would only sleep for about 2 hours from 2:30 to 4:30 when his body required 4 hours to be fully rested. So she intended to try and encourage him to get more sleep tonight. 

Entrapta dropped down from the vents, very gently, using her hair and began the treacherous trek across the sanctum to reach the portal machine. She twisted around stray wires and bits of scrap metal, and stepped over countless cables. It really was a miracle that she had made it over to the portal machine.

As the clock struck 3:30 Entrapta checked the temperature, pressure, charge and solution levels of the portal machine, and flipping the appropriate switches to ensure that everything would run smoothly. This whole thing was effectively a supercharged calibration to the integration of the First Ones tech and the Fright Zones new energy grid. 

She spent the next 30 minutes wandering the lab looking for any quite odd jobs that could be done. The she fixed the calibration and did more odd jobs, rinse and repeat. At 4:45 Hordak emerged into the lab wearing his usual shift but carrying Imp on his shoulder and rubbing his eyes.   
“Yes, you can go to the kitchens but please, for my sanity, return by 6 AM.” Entrapta watched from her place at the desk as Imp leaped from Hordak’s shoulder and flew towards the exit. Hordak was still rubbing his eyes as he walked over to his main desk.   
Finally, he looked up and noticed her.   
“Entrapta,” he said her name in a way that only he could, “what are you doing here so early? You require eight hours of sleep and you left at 12 last night.”   
“Oh, just couldn’t sleep, bad dreams and I had some stuff that i wanted to work on, so here I am.” Entrapta felt kind of bad, she wasn't lying, she did have nightmares and she did have stuff to work on, but she felt bad hiding things from Hordak. “What about you Hordak? You require four hours of sleep a night, but from the logs and the data I’ve seen you’ve only been getting two or even three at max.” Entrapta fixed him with a look that was reminiscent of a mother discovering that her child had been playing hookey.   
“Well, my work has been just fine with two hours of sleep, if my efficiency or functionality dips then I may consider adjusting my sleep schedule.” Hordak turned away from her and began to work on some of the more mundane tasks required to keep the Fright Zone up and running. 

Their day progressed pretty much as normal, until about 5pm when one of the bots dropped of two hot meals from the kitchens. Hordak demanded that Entrapta take a break to eat and Entrapta said she would only do so if Hordak did so as well.   
“So, I noticed you’ve been recalibrating the portal, is there anything I should know before I take over this evening?” What Hordak asked as a simple question actually held a whole lot more information, firstly that he assumed he would be taking over the work, and secondly that he had caught on despite Entrapta’s attempts to hide it.   
“Well no, because you won’t be taking over.” Entrapta made her statement as plain and abrupt as possible in the hopes of ending the discussion, it did not work.   
“I believe I should. You have hardly had enough rest as it is I cannot have you exhausting yourself to stay away at such an unreasonable hour.” Hordak pushed his food around his plate like a picky toddler.   
“You’re one to talk. As we discussed earlier you have not been getting enough sleep—“   
“That is none of your concern.” Hordak cut in.  
“AND it is none of your concern that I will be staying up to finish the calibration.” Entrapta gave him a smug smile as Emily took their plates back to the kitchen. The she stood up and swung off to calibrate the machine. 

By the time Hordak made it over to her she was done and had her mask down to work on some welding, effectively cutting off any form of discussion before it could even start. 

At 12 am after Entrapta had recalibrated the machine, Hordak carefully approached her, knowing that she was probably touchy due to loosing so much sleep.   
“No. You cannot convince me to give it up, so don’t even bother trying.” She turned away from him.   
Oh, so that’s how she was going to play it. Hordak stood behind her and ran his claws through her hair, his nails lightly scraping against her scalp. 

Entrapta was tired. But she wasn’t going to admit that to Hordak. Anyway, she had been doing a damn good job of staying awake so far. The she felt Hordak’s hands running through her hair, nails scraping against her scalp and sending tingles down her spine. Her eyes rolled back into her head before she got a hold of herself and stepped away.   
“That’s just unfair!” She used her hair to pull herself up into the rafters where she stayed watching him work for the next half hour. 

At 12:31 she began the other part of her plan.   
“Hordak,” she sang out to him, “I think it’s time you went to bed.” She walked away from the portal before stopping in front of him, raising herself up on her hair, and placing her hands on her hips.   
“No.” That one word effectively a dismissal as he tried to return to his work.   
“Yes, it’s getting rather late, don’t you think a good four hours would do you some good, and improve ‘efficiency’ and ‘functionality’” Her attempts were in vain as he merely brushed her off and went back to work. 

Both of them were upset with their respective lab partner and responded with the silent treatment. Entrapta was exhausted but she could also see that Hordak was as well. She was done with the calibration but she didn't know what to do to try and convince Hordak to get some sleep.

“Please Hordak, just four hours is all I’m asking!” She looked up at him, with an expression that he really truly did have a hard time saying no to, and the exhaustion in her eyes caused something inside him to snap. 

Wordlessly Hordak grabbed Entrapta’s hand and pulled her toward the inner room of his sanctum where he slept. She followed him limply.   
“I’ll make you a deal, I’ll sleep for 5 whole hours if you do so as well AND promise me that you will sleep for 9 tomorrow night.” Hordak lay down on the right hand side of his King size bed, and Entrapta was surprised to find that he slept on his side. She wanted to resist and to argue with him, but she was so exhausted she merely nodded before falling into the bed.   
She had to bite back a moan as Hordak ran his hands through her again. She realised with a warmth in her chest that he was plaiting her hair so that it wouldn't get tangled. She wished she had the energy to thank him as blissful sleep overcame her. 

Hordak barely finished plaiting her hair before he too found himself in dreamland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, I know this isn't the best thing I've written, but Ive had a lot on my plate recently and I just had to take a moment to write something. So, I hope you can still find a way to enjoy it. I'm going to be away on a 3 week holiday without my computer in the next couple of days, hopefully I can continue to update, but at this stage I'm unsure. Sorry guys.


	4. Log #27 The Power of a Simple Cup of Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hordak is sleepy! This is short, I Know, it was written on my phone in like 30 minutes based of a prompt from @therealgoatdaddy on tumblr. I’ve just got back from the US but I’m spending today in Syd and won’t be back with my laptop until tomorrow. Basically, it’s just something to get me back into writing

Hordak was superior to Etherians. Well, mostly. Sometimes. The point is, he only required 4 hours of sleep a night to be well rested. This made him typically more efficient in a work sense. But then, Entrapta showed up. She was brilliant, a genius really. Her “assistance” had increased the rate of work on the Portal machine almost exponentially. That meant that in order to keep up with both her extraordinary mind and the bureaucracy of the Fright Zone Hordak had been sleeping for 2 hours a night for the past 2 weeks and 4 days.   
But he was superior! It wasn’t getting to him.   
He was a clone built for work and efficiency.   
He was perfectly fine.   
He had fallen asleep on top of his files.   
He quickly checked his surroundings and then his watch. Only a 5 minute lapse in perfection and no one had seen. Good. Fine. 

Entrapta knew two things that applied to the current situation. 1. Hordak didn’t require as much sleep as she did, and 2. Hordak was NOT getting the amount of sleep he did require.   
She watched from up in the roofing (what was better termed scaffolding) of the Sanctum as he poured over documents from his Force Captains, his shoulders dropped and his head rested in his hands. Then he lowered his head to the desk and remained still, asleep, for 5 minutes and 14 seconds.   
She was already upset that he wasn’t getting enough sleep, but the fear in his eyes as he checked his watch and surroundings pulled at her heart. Entrapta struggled to understand complex emotions and interpersonal relationships, but she knew she felt upset when she saw Hordak suffering or afraid.

The next afternoon at 9:37pm Entrapta watched Hordak’s shoulders drop as he read over the daily reports. She was attempting an experiment! She knew Hordak would not go to sleep until about 3am. She knew that caffeine could be absorbed by Etherian’s, and hopefully Hordak’s species, in 15 minutes. She knew caffeine had a half life of 5 hours.   
She walked over to him, steaming mug of coffee in hand, or really in hair.   
“Hordak, I’m gonna turn in for tonight, but I thought you could use this.” He hadn’t stopped reading but he still acknowledged her.   
“Very well, goodnight Entrapta.” He continued to read the reports, and made no move to grab the cup. She leaned forward to place it on the desk above his paperwork and absent mindedly, almost naturally, placed a gentle kiss on his temple. He stiffened at that, and realising her actions Entrapta swung herself by the beams of the roofing towards her chambers. 

Hordak knew that he wasn’t getting enough sleep and so he drank the coffee almost feverishly. And yet, it wasn’t only the coffee that contributed to the warmth that spread through his chest and cheeks.  
He learned three things that night. 1. Coffee was a magical elixir of energy and alertness, 2. He was going to order the chef to prepare some for him every evening (Entrapta should not have to bother with such a menial task when her talents were far above it) and 3. His feelings for Entrapta were changing.


	5. Log #31 Speaking in Tongues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What would Entrapta think of Hordak's native language?

Hordak sat atop his throne, one hand held an important report from the armoury, the other scratched gently underneath Imp’s chin. He glowered down at the force captain before him, “I expect better from you and your Cadet’s in the future. I believe you understand the consequences should my expectations not be met.”   
“Yes, Lord Hordak.” The force captain remained in a low bow for five seconds before rising, saluting and exiting the throne room.   
Finally alone, after 6 hours of meetings, Hordak sighed deeply, leaning back in his chair. “Chtkrrl, tchcsrrsk krtskts…” Hordak swore and rubbed his temples. “Chtchsrs ktkrstdk drstkddrd.” Imp chirped gently in reply. “Tdrsk Entrptkrs dkrltcs krsktc.” Hordak stood from his throne and slowly, exhaustedly, made his way back to his Sanctum.   
He had found himself wanting to spend more time there, and had recently become aware that this was due to a wish to spend more time with Entrapta. Hordak struggled to comprehend his own feelings, he largely attributed this to being a clone, raised to be orderly, emotionless, and perfect at all times. A clone, “birthed” from a vitrine in an adult body that had been formed in a matter of months. A clone, who could be reset in the event of an outbreak of emotions or a simple mistake. None of these things had allowed him to develop a complex understanding of his feelings and emotional well being. As such Hordak had attempted to understand the “situation” logically.   
He often found himself in awe of Entrapta’s abilities, her work with technology, as well as her scientific understanding. He believed this to be a perfectly understandable reaction to a genius of her caliber.   
He also found himself wanting to spend more time with her, and experiencing a giddy feeling whenever she was overly kind or affectionate with him. 

“Hordak!” He was pulled from his thoughts by the woman whom they were centred on. “Would you be able to help me move some of this stuff away from the portal?” Entrapta pulled her mask up and wrapped a tendril of hair around his waist.   
“Yes, of course,” he tried to take a step forward but was instead lifted off his feet and carried over to a pile of scrap metal around their machine. “I can move myself you know, I wouldn't want this armour you built to go to waste.”   
Entrapta just laughed with him, and a familiar warmth spread through his chest. “I know you can, but it’s much more efficient this way. Now get to work silly, wouldn't want that armour to go to waste.”   
She turned back to her work, the soft glow of the power source catching the light in her eyes, giving them the appearance of stars. Hordak almost forgot how to function.   
Stars. Of all the things in the known universe, he missed the stars the most, not only were they stunningly beautiful, they were a reminder of all the possibilities available, all the worlds, with their vast and intricate cultures and lifeforms. All the worlds that could be bent to Prime’s will.   
“Hoooooooooordak!” Entrapta’s voice cut through to him.   
“Sdkrtsk…” He breathed, before catching his mistake. “I mean, sorry, I uh, got distrac—“   
“What was that? Is that your native tongue? How do you make those clicks? Do you have more than one set of vocal cords? Is it like the pressure clicks of dolphins? Can you teach me? Can Etherian’s make the necessary sounds? Your ears were flicking, is that a part of it? Oooh, can Imp—“   
“Entrapta, please.” She had rushed forward, invading his personal space, her hands cupped his face and her hair held multiple tools ready to inspect his mouth and throat.   
“Sorry,” she lowered her hair held tools but didn't move her hands or step back. “Is this a private topic for your species?”   
“No,” Hordak sighed and rubbed his eyes, gently pushing Entrapta’s hands away from his face, they were rather distracting. “You merely startled me with the veritable flurry of questions.”   
“Oh, okay, but you’ll answer them?” She lifted herself up with her hair and rested her arms on his shoulder, chin in hand. It was a position Hordak had come to think of as her “discussion position.   
“Yes.” He found that it was often easiest to say yes and appease her whenever she took on this position, he also found that he had a hard time saying no anyway. 

“So, that was your native language, right?” Entrapta had pulled out her recorder.  
“Yes.”“How do you make the clicks?”   
“It is somewhere between the way that an Etherian dolphin uses the pressure in their sinuses to make clicks and whistles and the Etherian hard ‘k’ sound.” Hordak took a few steps across the sanctum, Entrapta trailing behind, to take a seat at his desk. He figured this could take some time, he might as well get comfortable.   
“Is it possible for Etherian’s to make the sounds required to speak your tongue?” He knew where she was going with this.   
“No, I’m sorry, I know you like to learn, but your sinuses and throat are not able to produce the necessary sounds.”   
“Oh, well that’s okay. It sounds amazing when you speak it, so I’m okay with just listening.” Hordak let out a small sigh of relief, he did not like for Entrapta to be upset.   
“Are your ears apart of the language? I’ve seen them move when you talk.” Hordak blushed a bit and tough the instinct to cover his ears.   
“No, they are similar to the way that Etherian’s have facial expressions, they show our emotions, and can help to add meaning and tone to speech but they are really no different to Etherian expressions.” Short of cutting them off, Hordak could not hide the feelings shown by his ears, if Entrapta ever learnt to read them he’d become an open book, she would see all his emotional vulnerabilities, and he wasn’t quite ready for that. 

Entrapta continued asking questions for the better part of an hour and even took some measurements and recordings, before Hordak was able to turn her attention back to the portal. 

It was 11:46pm and both Hordak and Entrapta were showing signs of fatigue and preparing to retire for the night. Entrapta had been given her own rooms within the Sanctum next door to Hordak, it made their work together much more efficient. Additionally, he was able to keep a close eye on her, he would never openly admit it but he liked knowing that she was safe.   
“Goodnight Hordak!” Entrapta called out as she finished up her work on a particularly finicky circuit.   
“Dkrsk Entrptkrs rdskltsksrsd.” Entrapta had mentioned she liked the sound of his language, that the clicking sounds were “captivating” and “soothing.” He knew she would catch his meaning so he said goodnight in his native language to gauge her reaction.   
The smile she shot him, reminded him of the suns at the centre of the solar systems across the known universe. His ears flicked back, and he decided then that he would speak like this around her more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, or trying to be haha, my uni doesn't start til mid February, so I'm hoping to get some writing done :)


End file.
